Lake Weir Yacht Club gets 'touch of class' again

Tuesday

Dec 10, 2013 at 12:01 AM

While the club never disbanded, it was a shadow of its former self by the early 2000s.

By Carlos E. MedinaCorrespondent

One hundred years ago it was the place to be during the winter. Industrialists and entrepreneurs traveled from the North to spend time on the shores of East Lake Weir by day and at the newly inaugurated Lake Weir Yacht Club building in the evening.

A train from Ocala brought in the city’s well-to-do and the orchestra for dinner and dancing. The party went on until midnight, when the return train took the revelers back to Ocala.

But the party eventually ended, and the yacht club’s building was mostly forgotten. While the club never disbanded, it was a shadow of its former self by the early 2000s.

“We all knew about it. We all knew that it had been an important part of the community, but it had lost some of its relevance,” said former Florida Gov. Buddy MacKay, who spent many summers at his grandmother’s house on the lake.

“The lake was a very central part of my childhood,” MacKay said.

His grandfather, George MacKay, built the current club building in 1913 and was one of the club’s charter members when it formed in 1909.

“In the last 10 years, they have totally rebuilt it,” MacKay said. “It had fallen on bad times, and they have a new group that came in and really revitalized it. It’s really becoming a center for the community again. It’s really nice to see all the people that have come together to give the place a touch of class again.”

The entire structure, with the exception of the porch, has been remodeled. Modern bathrooms, air conditioning and heat systems and a new roof have replaced the decades-old systems.

“This year we upgraded the electrical system. Next year we’ll restore the big front porch. We’ve had a lot of help from the community and business, who have donated their services,” said Steve Lytle, whose grandfather was a charter member and the first commodore of the club.

Lytle is the current commodore and remembers the building as a landmark when he was younger.

“When I was a kid, when we’d come down here in the summer, we would water ski and we’d ski down to the yacht club and back. It was on the little rundown side, at that time they weren’t participating,” said Lytle, who now lives on the lake.

Decades later, the building was almost past saving.

“There were holes in the siding. The roof was in really bad shape. It looked like nothing had been done in a long time,” Lytle said.

By 2009, for the 100-year celebration of the club’s founding, the building had regained a lot of its previous glory. There were people in period costumes and 1920s-era music. The club’s members also became involved in the Light Up Lake Weir boat parade, reconnecting with the tradition of holding boating events.

“My dad remembers they had boat races in the 1920s that were all centered at the yacht club. I’ve seen pictures. They had inboard engines. It was a big deal in the early days around the lake,” MacKay said.

MacKay also now lives on the lake, on the same property where his grandmother lived. He said he hopes the club will continue to build its significance in the community.

“I think it’s going to add a totally new dimension. It gives us all a chance to know each other,” he said.

Lytle, whose grandfather came to the area in 1870 after he was urged to buy orange grove land by John Carney, Carney Island’s namesake, thinks the club is poised for a revival, in more ways than one.

“It’s ready for a new generation. And after we get the porch done, it will be a matter of just keeping up with things as they need fixing,” he said.